Sunday, February 24, 2013

I was never
an elitist. Yet I had some reservations about certain people and communities. I
say this as my opening line because I need a hook to hang out my nurtured perception.
So each day when
the person who drives me to work [I’m not a racist, I refrain from mentioning
his name. If you guess his nationality, I will not call you one either] speaks
to me, I participate with the reluctance of being forced to greet a creepy boss.

For the last
five years, when Inshaallah [meaning God willing] has been his one-word
explanation to any query of mine that put him in a spot, I’m pretty sure you will
hang out with me on that hook.

Here’s a few
of our Q& A drives…

Me: “Don’t tell
me you are going home to arrange your son’s wedding. Isn’t he just 14?”

He: ‘Inshaallah’

Me: ‘Why are
you the only earning member for a family of 30?”

He: ‘Inshaallah’

Me: Can you drive me to the mall this Friday?

He: ‘Inshaallah’

Me: Why don’t
you visit a doctor, instead of popping Panadols with each meal?

He: ‘Inshaallah’

Me: The A/C isn’t
cooling enough. Why don’t you have it checked?

He: ‘Inshaallah’

It’s not
only when I corner him. Check this out…

He: “You are working on your day off?”

Me: “We are
short-staffed.”

He: “They
will pay you extra?”

Me: “No”

He: ‘Inshaallah’

So FM music has
been keeping me company on the drive with him while his monologue continues unabated
in the foreground.

Recently, when
my health took a beating, he assured me with his trademark reply. “You’ll be
Ok. Inshaallah.”

Two weeks
later, he said: “You should stop worrying. Inshaallah, after the weekend you
will be OK.”

The fourth
week, when I got into the car, he sat looking at me. A minute later, he spoke… “I
know you do not consider what I say. I’m uneducated. But I request you, this
one time, just listen to what I say...”

His first
sentence hit me, so I was alert .

“Don’t say
you are sick. When someone asks you, ‘how are you?’, say you are great. You
know why? Because the One who’s up there always listens to you. So if you say
you are sick He will ensure you remain sick. Whoever your God is, just
trust Him and keep saying you are fine. Inshaallah, He will make you fine.”

Yes, it did
work. Trust me!

I gorge on
wisdom literature. ‘The Power of Your Subconscious Mind’ by Joseph Murphy has
been my favourite and yet…